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Elections in Haryana and Maharashtra

In a fiercely fought Assembly elections that put Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity to test following BJP’s unprecedented victory in the Lok Sabha polls in May 2014, Haryana gave the party a clear majority—BJP’s first-ever in the State—and Maharashtra saw it emerge as the largest party.

The BJP bagged 47 of total 90 seats in Haryana, and 122 in the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly.

Haryana, like Maharashtra, saw multi-cornered contests. Besides the BJP, Congress and INLD, fringe players such as HJC, HJCP, HLP, BSP and Samast Bhartiya Party were in the fray. Barring two seats to the HJC and one each to BSP and SAD, none other got anything. The Congress was placed a poor third with 15 seats, behind Chautala-led INLD tally of 19.

A first-time MLA, Manohar Lal Khattar, who has a four-decade-long association with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and BJP, was elected as the Chief Minister. He is the first Punjabi to become the Chief Minister of the State.

In Maharashtra also the Congress came third with tally of 40, behind Shiv Sena’s 63. The vote share of BJP in the Maharashtra Assembly elections doubled compared to that in 2009 to help catapult its tally from 46 to 122 seats in a five-cornered contest and it was also marginally higher than it got in the May Lok Sabha polls.

Lawyer-turned-politician Devendra Fadnavis of BJP was sworn-in as the 27th chief minister of Maharashtra. He leads first-ever BJP government in the State.